Rohan Paul

OpenAI says every future data center campus it owns will pay its full electricity and grid costs, post financial guarantees in case a project is cut, publish its water, power, noise and hiring numbers, avoid NDAs with officials, and fund local priorities such as the $4.8M school meals grant in Georgia. It also wants regulators and lawmakers to make these rules apply to every developer. Large power users would have to cover the grid costs they add, and campuses could connect faster if they agree to cut demand at peak times, the way OpenAI’s Georgia Power deal allows cuts of up to 1,000 MW. The real goal is to ease growing local anger over power bills, water use and secret deals, which could slow the permits and grid connections its Stargate data center buildout needs, while making rivals carry the same costs.